Friday, October 03, 2008

Does it count as discovering someone if you cast her in a failed pilot before her career took off? If so, than my partner and I discovered Kat Dennings.

Kat currently stars in the teen comedy NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST that opened this weekend. It has to do better than the pilot of SNOBS. That was an ill-fated pilot we did for Fox in 2003.

The premise was a family of snobs… but they had no money. They lived way above their means in a crappy tract house in San Mateo. Kat was the daughter. Ironically, the actor we tried to get to play her brother was Michael Cera (this was pre ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) who is now her love interest in NICK & NORAH’S.

Finding a teenage girl who could play attitude and intensity but was real and funny was an almost impossible challenge. Most actresses are not that skilled at that age. Not to say that they won’t grow and blossom but in most cases you could “see them acting”. They didn’t just assume the character. Not Kat. She walked in, read the part, and from the first moment we knew – “That’s the girl!” She was hilarious, she was totally believable in a part that was a real stretch, and she was special.

In a fairly unheard of move, we brought no second choice to the network for approval. Usually they insist. And if you don’t bring them options they generally don’t approve the actor just for spite. But not this time. Everyone in the room instantly saw what we saw and she was enthusiastically approved.

I saw her in 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and thought she stole the movie. You’re probably saying, “Really? She was in that?” Yes, she was Catherine Keener’s daughter and now that you know don’t you agree her performance was incredibly memorable?

I hope to work with Kat again someday. Maybe on another pilot, although the difference will be this time it’ll be her project and I have to get approved by the network.

Kat Dennings is so pretty and can put on a decent performance. I think she might be the underrated underdog that gets good roles, but ignored by the media (look at Megan Fox, who's overrated, can't act worth a shit but gets attention all the time and juicy roles before she dies up in a few years).

Due to this post I bought "The 40 year old Virgin" and just watched it.

Sorry - but Kat Dennings did not steal that movie.

The reason is simple. The script was so god damn awesome and all of the cast, all of them, were acting over the top good, including Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco - I mean honestly, she stole the movie from Steve Carrell? No way. Even Gerry Bednob (the old indian guy) was so amazingly funny in this you can't honestly say she stole the movie.

Jonah Hill was in this (with more weight on him - he was the guy trying to buy the sparkly shoes in the eBay Store who danced at the end in the Poncho-like outfit during the Aquarius song).

Kat Dennings was good, true. She was funny. But "stealing" the movie? Sorry. No way.

Seth Rogen's career started with this movie. He'll be in "Zack and Miri make a Porno" with Elizabeth Banks later this month (a film by Kevin Smith) and now you know where they met before (in the bathroom where she used the showerhead :-) )

So honestly you can't just say this. She might be good, she might also have three movies in the works now and she might have bodily features that are enthralling but now - she couldn't have stolen this movie from almost any of the other actors. They simply had too many good lines in that movie.

Although she might've stolen her scenes from Catherine Keener because Keener is the only one in the movie who's just so-so, I'll give you that.

But the rest... no way. Seriously. I laughed so hard during all the other scenes just a couple of minutes ago this is just not right. The movie is too good to say that.

But I too think that she's really funny and a good actress and can't wait until Nick and Norah starts here.

About KEN LEVINE

Named one of the BEST 25 BLOGS OF 2011 by TIME Magazine. Ken Levine is an Emmy winning writer/director/producer/major league baseball announcer. In a career that has spanned over 30 years Ken has worked on MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, DHARMA & GREG, and has co-created his own series including ALMOST PERFECT starring Nancy Travis. He and his partner wrote the feature VOLUNTEERS. Ken has also been the radio/TV play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres. and has hosted Dodger Talk on the Dodger Radio Network.

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